Al-Adab Al-Mufrad
Al-Adab Al-Mufrad 209
حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ عُبَيْدِ اللهِ قَالَ: حَدَّثَنِي ابْنُ أَبِي حَازِمٍ، عَنِ الْعَلاَءِ، عَنْ أَبِيهِ، عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ: لاَ يَقُلْ أَحَدُكُمْ: عَبْدِي، أَمَتِي، كُلُّكُمْ عَبِيدُ اللهِ، وَكُلُّ نِسَائِكُمْ إِمَاءُ اللهِ، وَلْيَقُلْ: غُلاَمِي، جَارِيَتِي، وَفَتَايَ، وَفَتَاتِي.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Muhammad ibn Ubayd Allah narrated to us. He said: Ibn Abi Hazim narrated to me, from al-Ala, from his father, from Abu Hurayra, from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, who said: ‘Let none of you say, “My male slave” or “my female slave.” You are all servants of Allah, and all your women are female servants of Allah. Rather, let him say, “My young man,” “my young woman,” “my lad,” or “my girl.”’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The Arabic contrasts possessive terms derived from ‘servant/slave’ with familiar terms meaning ‘my boy/girl’ or ‘my young man/woman.’ The English preserves that contrast without treating the alternatives as exact social-status synonyms.
وَلْيَقُلْ: غُلاَمِي، جَارِيَتِي، وَفَتَايَ، وَفَتَاتِي.
The four recommended forms are related terms of address with overlapping but non-identical connotations.
Should the English distinguish these forms with a short glossary or retain the compact translations?